Hull firm Spencer Group clocks up record profits thanks to a landmark year of significant projects

Multi-million pound projects including the £200m Energy Works power plant in Hull and a £65m scheme to design and build wood pellet handling facilities at the Port of Tyne has resulted in a landmark year for Spencer Group.

Financial statements show the Hull-based company achieved a turnover of £113m for the year ending March 2017, with a pre-tax profit of £5.1m – the largest profit achieved in the firm’s 28-year history.

Over the past year, the company has also grown its workforce, from 269 to 314.

He said: “These results are highly encouraging and reflect a landmark year for the business, during which we have made strong progress towards the successful delivery of two of the largest projects the company has ever undertaken, demonstrating once again the extent of our capability and expertise.

“Having steered the £200m Energy Works power plant in Hull from concept to development, we are now delivering the £35m package of civil engineering works for the project, working with principal contractor M+W Group and on behalf of a consortium of international investors. Construction of Energy Works is progressing rapidly and the facility is on target to begin producing electricity from an innovative and environment-friendly gasification process in April next year.

“At the same time we are delivering a £65m scheme to design and build facilities for the handling, storage and rail-loading of wood pellets at the Port of Tyne, to support the conversion of Lynemouth Power Station to biomass burning. We expect to complete this project towards the end of the year.”

In light of the region’s pressing skills gap, the company has recently stepped up its apprenticeship and graduate recruitment programmes to build a new pipeline of young talent for the business.

Its efforts have seen homegrown recruits now excelling in roles in delivery, design, marketing, IT support and development.

Spencer Group is also one of the Founding Partners of Hull’s new Ron Dearing University Technical College, which will open in September and is heavily over-subscribed.

Spencer Group executive chairman Charlie Spencer OBE said: “We are pleased to have achieved a year of record profitability, as a result of delivering projects of very significant scale, challenge and complexity.

“By understanding our clients’ needs we have been able to deliver business critical projects and this year’s results are testament to this focus.

“In the current year we are continuing to demonstrate the pace, energy and imagination we bring to solving our clients’ engineering challenges.

“Looking ahead, we are well placed to continue to capitalise on the industry-leading capability we have in the fields of rail, energy, materials handling, specialist engineering and design.”